Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Designer babies, designer God

It's been quite a day.

This morning I read this article about a pregnant woman who, upon discovering that one of her twins had Down Syndrome, scheduled an abortion. Only problem was that the doctor aborted the wrong twin. The healthy, wanted baby was killed instead of the undesirable, imperfect baby. Upon discovering the mistake, the mother rectified the situation by aborting the "right" baby. And then there were none.

Then later this afternoon I read how doctors are taking mitochondria from one egg, implanting it in the egg of a woman who carries a genetic defect, and creating an embryo. The baby, therefore, has three parents.

And a ob/gyn named Dr. Frankenstein.

Last summer I sat by a neighbor's pool when a newly pregnant friend of mine revealed that her doctor had offered her the opportunity to take a new blood test that can determine the gender of the baby during the first trimester. My friends gasped at the fun of finding out so early.

My worries exceeded my excitement. "Now, people will abort that much earlier when they don't get the sex they want." My friends called me ridiculous. "No one will do that, Missy. Tsk tsk."

I cocked my head at their ignorance. "Yeah, they will," I nodded, and whispered, "For sure they will." I let it drop. They didn't want to go there.

Many countries already do this regularly. China is facing a fifty million girl shortage due to gendercide that had become the norm. I am sure they will be delighted to abort mere weeks into a pregnancy than to wait until they have felt her kick, or to suffocate her once she is born.

It is believed that 90% of babies diagnosed in the womb with Down are aborted. Many women who choose to implant several embryos during in vitro fertilization routinely "selectively reduce" the babies down to a number that is desirable, a practice I have always found the epitome of irony. And I can guarantee you that children are being aborted in this country because they made the mistake of not developing into the girl or boy that their parents were striving for. We are not morally superior to the Chinese.

Nor are we any less hedonistic than our friends the British, who often abort babies for such simple, correctable abnormalities as club feet (which Olympic champion ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi was born with) and extra fingers and toes. One English father aborted his 20 week old child with a missing hand because he feared the child would not excel at sports.

As the field of genetics and prenatal testing continues, it won't be long before it is routine to abort babies for reasons of eye color or height. "Tsk tsk, Missy," you say. "No one will do that."

To which I will reply: untold millions of babies have been aborted for much lesser reasons.

Tsk, tsk.

Not so long ago, if you wanted a car, you went down to the lot, and you picked one out and drove it home. You didn't custom order everything down to the color of your steering wheel. If you wanted curtains, you drove to Sears, you decided which ones matched best, and you hung them up on your windows. At a restaurant, you had several items to choose from, not a ten page booklet. And they didn't make it your way. They made it their way.

But this is not the world we now live in. I am constantly overwhelmed by my choices. I've literally burst into tears in Lowe's paint department trying to choose between the sixty five different shades of light green before me. And as much as I love online shopping, it drags out a purchase considerably. Decisions to buy a camera or, heaven help me, one of those custom ordered cars, take hours of research and add stress to what should be a delightful purchase.

Because there are so many options, I feel obligated to design every aspect of my life down to the smallest detail.

Is it any wonder that we feel entitled to do this with our offspring? To create a perfect reflection of ourselves and reject the inferior version?

Is it any wonder we feel entitled to do this with our God?

Back in the curtains-from-Sears day, there was also little to no God shopping. The God of the bible was the God you got. You could take Him or leave Him, but you weren't encouraged to redesign Him.

Then God, like cars and cell phones, got marketed.
And marketing appeals to the consumer, not the product.

"Repent for the Kingdom is at hand"? Way too depressing. And, well, judgmental. Let's replace that with "Join the Excitement!"

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord"? We're too busy choosing a new cell phone for that. How about, "Become a Better You"? Now that, I could squeeze into my schedule.

"Rejoice in your sufferings?" Suffer? Why suffer when you could "Live Your Best Life Now"?

"Blessed are the poor"? Pshaw! Joel Osteen says, "God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money."

This Extreme God Makeover is nothing new. Paul spoke of it almost 2,000 years ago in his letter to the Romans: "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles....They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator..."

None of us probably worship lizards or cats.
But I know a lot of us worship a god of our own creation.

It is a god who wants nothing for us but perfect health. A god who is only interested in our finances to the extent that he increases them. A god who is tolerant of and even encouraging of sin, especially if we claim we can't help it or were born that way. A god who doesn't care if we worship him in a pew or at IHOP. A god who would never, ever send anyone to hell. Well, maybe Hitler. But not our friends, our nice friends.

A god who above all else wants us to be happy, no matter what we have to do or who we have to hurt to achieve satisfaction.

A god who never judges, never condemns, never disciplines. We find ourselves saying, "My god would never do that."

But this god that would never do anything we don't like is a refurbished computer. He was pieced together from different parts, some of them functional, some of them garbage. And the problem with this god is that he frequently crashes.

This designed god offers no explanation when our cancer is diagnosed. This god of wealth's impotence is revealed when our house is foreclosed upon. This god stingily withholds the abundant joy that is found only from turning away from the behaviors and attitudes that are slowly and certainly killing us. This god can make nothing new, especially our hearts.

And this god not only denies us access to eternal life, he can't even give us clear directions on how to get there. This god shrugs his shoulders and suggests that we just try and be as nice as we can be and hope for the best.

The true God, however, reveals himself to us, sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully, in one place alone: his Word, which He so graciously wrote to us. The true God offers only one pathway to Himself: his Son, which He so sacrificially gave to us.

The true God sometimes says and does things we don't like. Like the parents of these "designer babies" will very shortly learn, even the best "designed" children will have minds of their own. So does this God.

The true God who sometimes takes away things we love most. The true God who is completely intolerant of sin, not only the sin of a child molester, but the sin of a dishonoring wife or gossiping neighbor. The true God who assures us that indeed, we were all born that way, but that doesn't mean He's okay if we stay that way.

The God who wants to love us with the strongest, deepest, most unquenchable love, now and forevermore.

He is a God so much better than any that we could ever design for ourselves, who has such a better life for us than that other god could ever imagine.

Which God do you choose?

The one you designed, or the One who designed you?

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:15

Addendum: I was unaware until a commenter pointed out that gender selection is not just an issue in China and other countries, but Canada is experiencing the same phenomenon. Canada - CANADA - is now reporting a shortage of baby girls due to gender selection abortion.Guess which country's next, friends?

141 comments:

My mom is a Nurse Practitioner, specializing in OB/GYN work. She was heartbroken the other day when she told a patient her baby had Downs and the patient's husband insisted they terminate. My mom, as well as all of the doctors in the practice, told the couple the baby would be otherwise healthy and that Downs is a spectrum disorder, so that baby would likely still be able to live a full life. The man was absolutely unwilling to accept a child that would be different.

Telling this story reminds me to pray for the hardened hearts of those like him. I am tempted to become judgemental of him, when his coldness is really just a symptom of his heart's condition.

I never had any of the "tests" done with any of my pregnancies (you know the ones that tell you if your kid has Down's or something else). Scott and I knew that we would love and care for our baby no matter what. My doctor always seemed puzzled that I didn't want to have the tests done.

My doctor was not only surprised he was very unhappy. He did everything he could to literally bully me into those tests, and make sure that I understood my rights to terminate the pregnancy. After all, I was gestationaly geriatric at 40. What he could not comprehend was my certainty that I was blessed by being pregnant, and would be equally blessed with the child God was giving me. And she is a blessing. The first girl in my husband's family in many many years, and a precious child. The other blessing has been meeting women about to go to that same doctor, or who were thinking over similar things he told them, and being able to talk them through it and give them reason to hope.

Missy, you know this post id very dear to my heart as my angel baby was born with Down syndrome almost 2 years ago. How it breaks my heart to hear how parents will deny themselves the joy of parenting a child with any genetic condition especially Ds. My angel is a wonder of God truly, I am so glad I have been given this gift to treasure, it is not all doom and gloom as people imagine. Our days are a normal or abnormal as most, we just have a few roadblocks thrown in from time to time. If people want to know just how typical life for us is check out our blog: www.rastagalnj.wordpress.com it is appropriately called Designer Diva: I'm handcrafted and I've got the genes to prove it.

After reading the news link regarging the twins, the thing that sticks with me is that the doctor was probably more changed because of this case than the parents. I wonder if they felt suicidal or skipped straight to dialing their attorney.

thanks y'all.I was pretty ticked off when i wrote it, can you tell?On top of the two articles I read, I also heard a guy on Laura Ingraham who just got back from China discuss their girl shortage and how it will probably lead to more war. No other outlet for all that testosterone.

Well said! Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” Rev 5:13Amen and amen!

Missy...if you lived in Florida we would be girlfriends!!! great post! glorified God in His huge way. We have 6 children,3 born under my heart-3 born in it, 2 of which have down syndrome. Love love love our gifts from God!!would love to re-post giving you and God the credit on my blog or link to yours is that ok?

Oh Missy, I have been reading your blog for a few months but not sure if I have ever commented. I love this post, I was nodding as held the tears in at work. This post hurts because it's so true. When we were filling out something for our adoption (we are adopting siblings from ET)we were asked if we would be okay with a child that has seasonal allergies. I couldn't believe that people actually answer no to something so silly. We questioned our social worker on it and she said that there are so many people that adopt for the perfect child and not because they want to love a realy child that might be from a hard place. I love this post, I love the challenges you brought when writing it. Thank you.

Sad but terrifyingly true, on both counts. How many of us have failed to come to Jesus on His terms?

I was just reading the other day about research concerning parthenogenesis in humans...the creation of an embryo from two eggs. Never been done but they are working on it. Scary. How far we have come from "I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." Now the worth of a child is based on how "wanted" he or she was. Come, Lord Jesus.

great post. well said. you came recommended by a friend who reads your blog regularly. i decided to "stop by for a visit". not only can you speak the truth, but you speak it well. you are a gifted writer, in my opinion, and you have a way of being able to open eyes using god's word. thank you for sharing and i couldn't agree with you more. may closed eyes be opened.

Awesome post. It spoke to me because as the mom of 2 girls, I occasionally pray that if we have a third child pretty-please could it be a boy? Then something like this reminds me that God's given me the exact kids that He wants me to have. Blessings to you, and thanks for sharing your heart!

The girl shortage will lead to more war or more homosexuality, or both. And probably to more rape, and all other kinds of things that we can't even imagine. Reminds me of Brave New World that we had to read in high school.

I had none of the genetic testing done either time. I told the doctor that God had given me the baby I had and that's what I would give birth too and raise and praise Him for. I really just don't understand people sometimes.

So well written. These issues need to be address and spoken boldly about. Too many people believe the lies their doctors tell them about so called problems their baby may have. From what I understand many of the test are not 100% accurate yet.Children are a gift from God, hand-crafted by Him, made especially for us to love.

Thank you for your boldness and willingness to speak the truth. God's plan for our life is ALWAYS so much more amazing than any plan we could conjur up. I am humbled by his care of the intricate details of our lives.

And if you need proof that a child with Down's Syndrome is an ABSOLUTE JOY to parent...just look at the latest image on my blog. God knows what each and every parent NEEDS....if only we would listen when he speaks!

I can't imagine that a woman who would abort an imperfect baby or one of undesired sex knows what it is like to REALLY want a baby. Knows what it is like to loose one and cry yourself to sleep every month when you have not been graced with one yet. When I finally got pregnant with my 3 month old daughter I decided God was finally answering my prayers in the way he saw fit. I thought about the tests just because I'm a woman that likes to be emotionally prepared but decided against them because no one could question our choice to keep a baby with "issues" once she was here. And I love my OB for squeezing my arm and smiling while whispering, "good girl" when I told him so.

Well said, once again Missy. If I wasn't a staunch Presbyterian from birth, you'd hear a hearty AMEN. :-)

This pregnancy (#4 for me) I was given the opp for some genetic testing in the first trimester... some kind of blood test combined with a sonogram. I asked if there was anything they could do if they discovered something during the testing. She replied, "well you could decide if you wanted to keep the baby or not." I told her, "We've already decided we're keeping this baby and no we don't want testing."

Then just yesterday I was asked if I knew what I was having... I told the cashier we were being surprised, she said, "But what would you do if you have another girl?" This made no sense to me... what does she mean, if I knew or not what diff would that make... I told her that I have one son and 2 girls and I will happily take whatever God gives me.

Rachel there are so many things in the bible that bug me and confuse me.

One thing i have learned is to just tell God the passages I have trouble with, and ask him to send me some resources to clarify it. It may take a long time, but he always has.

For instance - the story in Genesis 19 where Lot offers his daughters to an angry mob instead of his houseguests has always really, really bugged me.

Recently I was reading a book on biblical customs and after a lengthy explanation of the ancients' views on hospitality, I GOT IT. In Lot's culture, offering his daughters would have been the right and natural thing to do. His daughters might not have been thrilled about it, but they would have understood it.

That doesn't necessarily make it right. But it explains WHY they did it. Much the way our culture thinks it is okay to abort babies with Down, and most people agree. Not godly, but culturally accepted.

I actually did get all the tests run every time. We had some friends whose little boy was born with a severe heart defect, and had they not known before his delivery, he probably would have died. As it was there was a team of cardiologists waiting outside his delivery room. Of course that was discovered with a sonogram and not blood tests, but you get my point.

And now, if the baby does have a problem, there are many things that can be done, eg, womb surgery for spina bifida.

Ironically, when Ike was diagnosed with a cord issue that is a soft marker for all kinds of chromosomal abnormalities, my good quad screen results brought me great comfort that he was probably fine.

I always figured knowledge was power. But I also have several friends who got false positives - the quad screen test is notorious for false positives - and it scared them to death. I completely understand skipping the tests.

This is a great post, Missy. It feels odd to write that though in the same manner it feels odd sometimes to tell our pastor he presented a good sermon. It was well written, packed with Truth, and challenging. To me, that's good. :)

I finished reading it saddened by all that people do to get by to be happy, the decisions they (I) make out of comfort and selfishness. And as I finished reading it, my prayer was, "Lord, show me what to do in response to this." I have no idea what that will look like, but I want to live differently from the world in Jesus' Name.

Amen, Amen and Amen, Missy!The situation is so precarious in China that the kidnapping of children has become an epidemic in some provinces.

This is what happens when God becomes obsolete. Designer babies are chosen b/c it is assumed that God wants our happiness over His holiness. It is a sad state of affairs when it is considered "humane" to abort a child because it won't have the advantage of being born 'perfect'.

missy i have been reading your blog for a few weeks and have found it incredibly encouraging. we are in the waiting stage of adopting two children from ethiopia and although i think it would be easy to overload on blog hopping, yours is one that will stay on the list. you spoke truth today and it obviously touched many people. thank you for being a vessel used by the true God.

As I think of my beautiful 7 year old daughter I am crying. She has autism. A "disorder". I see a day coming where all "diorders" are tested before birth and more babies will be killed. It breaks my heart to even comprehend the enormity of this. So very sad.

We've spent a very intense 17 months watching God work powerfully in our lives through our 2 year olds (2 @ diagnosis, 3 now, 4 in 2 days ~ It's a long haul!)Leukemia. Would I ask for it? NEVER!!! But it's here and He has been working amazing good through it. I see beauty in these ashes...

AMEN! Let us choose the LORD over everything else....let us know that God is God, not a designer car. Let our hearts be burdened for HIS GIFTS to us that we continuously ignore for something better so we think. We ignore the pleas of millions of lives lost for NO REASON!!!

Lord forgive us when we make those poor choices. Let us live anew in you and protect LIFE- ALL LIFE!

Excellent inspiring post. Really makes me stop and think about areas in my life that I need to change, knowing that I may be following the god I designed in some ways.

Also as I read your post I was reminded of the reasons why in our adoption journey my husband and I had the hardest time answering the medical questions. Seemed so unnatural to play God in deciding these things. And reading your statement: The God who believes a child with a deformity or a difference is not something worthless to be discarded, but a sign of his glory. I was sadly reminded of a friend who once told me that she wasn't worried about having a miscarriage while she was pregnant because it was God's way of taking care of a child that had a deformity. I just wanted to cry when I heard this.

Very well said, Missy. I love your blog and especially this post. I have a 9 year old daughter (our oldest) with Down Syndrome and don't for a minute understand why someone wouldn't want her :) I am also 24 weeks pregnant with our 5th child - who at 18 weeks was diagnosed with club feet. I went to see a specialist who confirmed the club feet, but who couldn't understand why we wouldn't do genetic testing and an amnio to rule out other issues. Our sweet little boy passed away this week and I am preparing to birth and then bury him. It grieves me that someone would purposely give up their baby when I sit here desperate to feel just one more kick from my little boy with a "defect" (by the world's standards). I so fully trust in God's plan ... knowing full well that His are far better than mine, despite the pain I feel!

Angela- I am so sorry for your loss. Somehow, I know you are going to find a way for your son's life to make a difference in our world. Your testimony here was so moving. You have a beautiful attitude. God bless you and your family! A friend you haven't met yet

I recently found your blog and have been lurking silently in the background, but this post really spoke to me. We are currently posted in India, where it is illegal for doctors to reveal the gender of the baby because female foeticide is so heartbreakingly common here. Almost every week, I read about baby girls who have been born and then abandoned. Sometimes, they are even left on railroad tracks for the apporaching trains. As a proud and amazingly blessed adoptive mother to two beautiful little miracle girls, it is devastating to hear these stories. And it saddens me beyond words to hear the stories about abortion and designer babies in the west too. Thank you for talking about this, and God bless you and your family on your adoption journey.

Excellent points! There are so many things that grieve me in our nation and around the world. Sin is so pervasive and brings a world to ruin....the only consolation is that these precious babies who are aborted are instantly in the arms of Jesus. But oh, how we as a people are reaping the consequences of our sins.

Amen!Missy, this was truly inspired of God. I am posting it to my facebook to share with others. I have been reading your blog for a couple weeks now and have really enjoyed it, but this was MORE than just "enjoyable".Thank you for writing. Keep it up!

I'm new to your blog...have been reading for only a few weeks...but I get so excited when your email pops up in my inbox now! You are allowing God to use you in so many ways...more than you know! I do a lot of prolife work in my hometown in KY and get extra excited when you post anything about the issues at hand. Thank you for being a voice for LIFE and for sharing the love of Christ...BEAUTIFUL post today! :) I will be sharing with many friends and family...

I logged on this morning to blog about my 6 month old son and his diagnosis of Down syndrome. I guess God wanted me to read your blog before I wrote my own entry today. I read about this story of the twins a few days ago and as a mother of a precious child with Down syndrome it pains me to the deepest part of my soul.

My sweet, sweet boy (and all of Gods children with Down syndrome) have a purpose in this world and in our lives. I am new to this and learning about having a child with Down syndrome in my life, but I can tell you that I am loving every bit of the extra chromosome that God gave my baby boy!

The headline that the doctor aborted the "wrong" twin makes me ill! There was and never is a "right" baby to abort.

This was our third child and we did elect to have the optional testing done. I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to go through with it. The results came back with a very high risk for Down syndrome and the doctor urged me to have an amnio. Absolutey not! The answer for me was prayer and through that prayer I received peace and then I received an amazing gift of love made in God's perfect image...yes, with Down syndrome.

Thank you for blogging about this. Your words have given me inspiration today. God Bless!

I've been following your writing since I found a link to your "Why I Don't Want My Children to be Happy" post. While we have a different perspective on some topics, I had to "de-lurk" and respond to this post in particular simply because I admire your conviction and the eloquence of your speech. I found this to be a beautiful perspective on selective abortion and its relation to "design your own deity". Thank you for providing me with some food for thought, and thank you also for sharing your wonderful life to strangers like myself.

I have been following your blog for about a month now. Wow! You are a very gifted writer and I appreciate you sharing that gift with all of us out here in cyberspace. I teach Kindergarten, and I have yet to meet a 'perfect' child. But this was a good reminder for me to be so grateful for each child in my class - maybe especially the difficult ones - because their parents cared enough to have them.

Thanks for sharing this great post Missy! Friends of mine are expecting their second child this summer, and recently moved from Ontario to Manitoba. Everyone keeps asking "do you know what your baby's gender is?" They reply "No" because in Manitoba they don't allow you to know before birth the gender for fear of abortions when parents aren't satisfied of the blessing God is giving them. It shouldn't really matter, as long as you have a happy & healthy baby.

Gender selection is a growing problem in India, too, since abortion was legalized in the 1980s. In areas where there are not enough women, there are more violent crimes, use of prostitutes, and sexual assaults. It's a sad harvest. Gender-selective abortion is "officially" illegal, mind you.

We are so grateful to our daughter's birthparents (and our next daughter's birthparents) for carrying her to term and making an adoption plan.Nancy

Missy, as a long time lurker, first time poster, I want to thank you for sharing such a thought provoking, well written post.

So much of what you write speaks to my heart. And while I've never personally had to deal with a situation where I faced picking the "perfect" child, I often struggle with the sin of perfection. Whether it is wanting the perfect house, perfect clothes, perfect figure, perfect haircut, being the perfect mom, perfect fill-in-the blank, I sin and fall short of His glory. Where would any of us be without His grace?

We talked tonight in our bible study about this very thing! Matt Chandler, from the village church in Dallas spoke about how even after the Israelites had seen the miracles of God first-hand, that after a couple of weeks in the wilderness, they long forgot what God had done for them, and that they needed a God that they could control. They didn't create a lion, they didn't even create a COW... but a calf... something that was easy to control.

Really great post. I live in Canada and that article you linked to doesn't surprise me. I imagine these numbers are high since there is so much immigration in the areas mentioned in the article. I lived in one of those areas when I had my first son and at that time, I wasn't even allowed to find out the sex because there were so many immigrants there that would choose selective abortion. That was 11 years ago, not sure if that is still the policy but it should be. It is so sad and I really appreciated this post. I am a pastor's wife and I see "designer gods" everyday and more people need to speak up! Thanks for sharing!

Came to this post via We Are That Family. My heart is broken for all of these babies who do not even get to experience the love of their own parents. Instead, their parents throw them away as if they are trash. Children, in any 'state' whether they be completely "normal" or have autism or genetical challenges, are precious PRECIOUS gifts from God. As our pastor always says..."You are a unique, unrepeatable, miracle of God and He has a plan for your life"...even for those who are not the 'norm'.

One of the ripple effects of this will be more sex trafficking of young girls. If there are shortages of girls in some countries, you can rest assured that sex trafficking will increase to fulfill the "needs" that will be experienced by lonely men.

I am not sure what you mean MamaGriffith. If you are implying that I have deleted negative comments, you are mistaken. The only comment I have deleted was written in Chinese. For all I know they agreed with me ;)

What an AMAZING post. I had to share it with my husband....and Twitter and after some sleep, on my blog as well LOL

{and Joel Osteen gives me the chills}

I think you'd enjoy this:http://mountaintopchurch.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=42655It's the audio of Rick Burgess that you want to click on.

My family has been through a lot this year. And we thank God for it because it means He loves us and wants it for His glory. He can use me all he needs....forget cookie-cutter god who gives you riches and an easy life....I'll take the one who is Real and LOVES ME.

Very powerful post. I agree with your views and opinions (and predictions!) 100%. If people are able to find out the gender of a baby in the first few weeks, there is no doubt in my mind that more abortions will take place in order to "get" what they "want". Ugh. Abortion is so evil. The wife of one of my husband's work associates chose to "terminate the pregnancy" (ummm, isn't that called Killing the Baby? Let's call it what it is, people!) while in her 4th month. The tests revealed she was carrying a Down Syndrom baby, and they didn't want "that" and so they chose to abort. At 16 weeks. When that baby is sucking it's thumb, kicking it's legs, growing fingernails, opening and shutting it's eyes. (How do mother's make this decision without being haunted for life?) A few months after, we were all sitting in the bleachers while our husbands played in a company softball game, and I overheard this woman getting sympathetic words for her "miscarriage" and I couldn't believe she was calling it a miscarriage! I heard her use that term! I wanted to shout out, "Miscarriage? You CHOSE to KILL your baby! That is NOT a miscarriage. stop giving her sympathy! She chose this!" Oh, it just angered me so much. Now, I know that I should not judge, but man, I just can't help these feelings sometimes. As the mom of 9 blessings, I just can't imagine how anyone cannot simply cherish life. All life. Even the "imperfect" who, really, are not imperfect in the eyes of their Creator. I am 40 years old now, and my "baby" is 20 months old. So many tell me that I should stop because I'm so old -- that my eggs are old and I have a 1 in 100 chance of having a DS child. As IF that would be such an awful thing? Gosh, the way I see it, DS people are the most loving and forgiving people on this planet. We should all have a bit of what they have! The world would be a much better place if everyone had their kind hearts. Anyway, sorry this is so long.... just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your post, and what a pleasure to have found your blog!

I really appreciate your post. Very well written & very true. I have a sister-in-law with downs & while there are times of struggle, my in-laws have said that they have had their greatest blessings from raising her. That they have grown ever closer to their Creator as they struggled and learned together in raising her.

I wrote about this same thing a month ago. It's SO sad that people chose to take these tests only to kill their child(ren) for selfish reasons (I don't want to deal with Down's Syndrome/physical handicap/child-of-____-gender). I'm not against the tests, but I am if they're used for evil.

Designer god(s)...so true today, sadly. The phrase "MY god wouldn't/isn't..." is too common. There IS only one God.

Wow. Such a powerful post. We are wicked at our core and if not for God's grace, abortion would be the norm for all of us. Each and every baby is designed by God(the God of the Bible) and will fulfill a specific purpose in their lifetime.America has such a problem with birth defects and disease that I think is directly related to our overall health. High-risk mothers especially should be taking supplements and eating very healthy to lessen the chance of complications or birth defects. Thank you for your post.

As a momma to a girl adopted from China, this just breaks my heart. Already China is seeing a resurgence of kidnapped brides, taken from urban areas to the most remote areas of China, where they become wives to (quoting the Chinese government) "low status men" unable to find brides the typical way... so they resort to criminal behavior and violence. So very upsetting.

I would like to copy this post and send to my BIL/SIL who just found out their unborn baby has Spina Bifida and Club Feet. Thanks for a great read and I think they will be very encouraged to read it. They do not have internet or email.

Wow, what an amazing and timely post. I will definitely be linking to you soon. It is so sad to see the consumer mindset reaching into the areas of parenting and now of even our relationship with God. Thank you so much for sharing. Your post brought me to tears.

Like the post...very interesting. We have a DD adopted from China so know the gender selection and abortion issues all too well.

That said, I do wish that more negative IVF posts (not yours specifically) were a little more educational. Infertility itself is a medical condition and is covered by many insurance plans. There are responsible ways to do IVF and I just cannot believe that just b/c you were given a d(x) of infertility means that you should not have bio children.

My SIL told me the other day that IVF was for rich ppl with too much money (which I think your post kind of implies, although I don't think that was your intention). She said that the twins that are born via IVF do not deserve the medical attention they get b/c their rich parents 'choose' to have them as twins and that they really are not born early. Complete mis information...twins are risky b/c they are born early often!! Anyway, as if it is the child's fault and s/he should be punished?!

She was misinformed in so many different ways I couldn't even begin to count them. She is an avid internet blog reader and I am afraid too many 'IMO' blogs have confused her.

I agree with every one of your points here, I just wish a little line about 'responsible IVF' was included. There are many of us believers out here and we are living out God's plans for our families in a responsible way. We feel that God gave us IVF to grow our families. Just like IVF families, there are fertile people out there that abuse their ability to get preggo (multiple adoptions for $$, etc). But, just like non IVF families, not all of us infertile folks abuse what we are given.

I was born in the mid 70's with a cleft palette. I had two surgeries, a tiny bit of speech therapy and no one knows unless I tell them. Now imagine my horror when I saw the number of babies aborted in the UK using a cleft as a medical excuse. I wanted to scream and cry and punch somebody in the throat. You will never hear me say, "people wouldn't do that" because I know they would. I had family living in China for a few years. Not long after they moved there I got a coded email explaining how bad abortion had gotten over there. You think it couldn't happen here? They have ended teen pregnancy, unwed mothers, and absentee fathers. Doesn't that sound wonderful? They did it by mandating abortions for anyone younger than 25 and you have to have been married for a certain amount of time. It is so much a part of their culture that even the Christian Chinese do it without consideration of it being any more than birth control. Because of the female shortage they are no longer legally allowed to tell you gender, however, like most illegal things in China, it only requires a small bribe to get the information. My sister was pregnant while in China, and they started telling her the baby looked like a boy from her first ultrasound. I also agree with the route church has taken. It saddens me to see people accepting watered down truth. One thing that is starting to really get to me is recreational mission trips. It is a tough topic. If souls are saved can you really say a mission trip was done "wrong", but on the other hand if your teen comes back with a STD can you really say you did it "right"? That's kind of an extreme, but hopefully you get what I'm saying.

Thank you for this post. This truth needs to be heard and believed. Thank you for being so upfront and honest - this needs to get out there - when will people wake up and realize that God is God and He will not be mocked.